


Mirror Image

by Book_Mage



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: O!Ciel is called Astre, R!Ciel is a little shit and i love him, Role Reversal, Twin Shenanigans, this is probably one of the most self-indulgent things I've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_Mage/pseuds/Book_Mage
Summary: Onboard the sinking, zombie-ridden Campania, Astre is forced to reveal his biggest secret in front of Lizzy.Or, a roleswap between our Ciel and Lizzy.
Relationships: Ciel Phantomhive & Real Ciel Phantomhive, Elizabeth Midford & Ciel Phantomhive
Kudos: 42





	Mirror Image

The Campania was flooding.

Frigid water rushed past Astre’s heels as he and Lizzy stumbled through the halls of the slowly sinking ship. Astre’s breaths were catching in his lungs, his legs numb from both exertion and the cold water. Lizzy shot him glances now and then with her good eye, the other hidden under a lacy white eyepatch. As cold as she could be, Astre knew that his condition worried her.

Lizzy came to an abrupt stop, and Astre almost stumbled over her, his heels skidding on the slippery ground. Lizzy grabbed his sleeve, steadying him. She’d long since ditched her weighty blue dress, leaving her white petticoats. Upon Astre’s insistence, she’d tugged on his blue coat over top of it.

In front of them, Sebastian was engaging in a fight with Grell. As always, the darkly dressed butler caused a shiver to run down Astre’s spine. Something about the butler chilled him, though Astre could never put his finger on it.

Sebastian dodged a chainsaw strike from Grell, causing the latter to slash at one of the glass windows. Water sprayed into the room, the high pressure sending everyone flying back. Astre landed on the floor harshly, biting his tongue. Blood welled up in his mouth.

Lizzy crashed into the wall, a grunt escaping her glossed lips. She tried to get up and grunted, reaching for her leg. With a jolt, Astre realized that she’d badly injured it, her white petticoats quickly staining red.

“My leg...!” she muttered. Shaking her head, she turned back to Astre, her visible eye serious. “Astre, get out of here!”

Moaning filled Astre’s ears, and he whipped around to see more zombies approaching them. Lizzy grunted, pulling a revolver from her skirt, firing away at the zombies. Five shots rang through the air until the trigger clicked. Lizzy looked down at it disapprovingly, as if it had failed her.

Astre frantically glanced around, his eyes falling on the swords hanging above them. His chest tightened. He could use those, but...

No. He couldn’t worry about that. He’d sacrifice his freedom to save Lizzy.

Astre sighed, turned back to Lizzy. He smiled sadly at her. “Lizzy, when you see Ciel again, please apologize to him for me? I wasn’t able to keep our promise.”

Lizzy’s eyes widened. “Astre-!”

The zombies closed in on them.

In one swift movement, Astre got to his feet, grabbed one sword hanging from the display, and spun, stabbing the nearest zombie through the face. Warm blood sputtered out, splattering against Astre’s clothes. Lizzy let out a small gasp.

Astre fell into formation, twisting his body to slash at another zombie. He stabbed two more zombies through the head, and used the momentum to spin upwards, grabbing a second sword from the display. He landed on another zombie’s shoulder, stabbing her through the head before jumping off, diving to take down another wave. His instincts took over, and Astre used that to guide him.

_Stab. Spin, duck. Slash. Jump over the headless body. Stab one more time._

Soaked with blood and water, Astre stood in the centre of a circle of collapsed zombies, catching his breath. Steps came from behind him, and Astre spun, seeing three zombies behind the bewildered Lizzy. Diving forwards, Astre defeated them.

Astre looked down. Lizzy stared back at him, her expression intermingled with shock and horror. The nature of the situation caught up with Astre, and his breathing became shuddered as his eyes watered.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped wetly. “I promised Ciel we would tell no one. All I wanted was some freedom. But this time, let me be the one to protect you.”

He turned around, flicking blood off of both of his sabers. He took one last deep breath, allowing a couple stray tears to roll down his cheeks. Then he opened his eyes.

“I am Astre Phantomhive, son of the leader of the British Knights, Vincent Phantomhive!” he yelled.

Astre moved in an offensive stance, raising both of his swords. “I will protect the Queen’s Guard Dog!”

And so, he resumed slashing, spinning and stabbing, ignoring Lizzy’s shocked expression from out of the corner of his eye. Methodically, Astre took down another wave of zombies, pretending it was another round of practice. 

_  
-_

_Let’s see... What did they always tell me...?_

_I’m too sickly to go outside or play games. I need to stay inside all day and remain safe from all the dangers the world has to offer..._

_-  
_

* * *

“Are you going to get better soon? Papa keeps dragging me into meetings, and it’s boring.”

Ciel leaned back, resting his cheek on one of his fists. Astre looked down at his blankets, twisting the material in his fingers.

“I don’t think so...” Astre muttered. “Remember what happened last time?"

“That only happened once,” Ciel grumbled. “Besides, it’s miserable that you can’t go outside at all this time of year. Lizzy keeps trying to get me to pick flowers with her. You’re the one who likes that stuff, not me.”

Astre laughed weakly. “Well, you’ve got training to look forward to, don’t you? Mom’s starting to train you, no?”

“Barely,” Ciel said, waving a hand. “She doesn’t even let me handle a real sword yet.”

“At least you get to do it,” Astre said.

“Ah, right,” Ciel said, having the decency to look slightly guilty. “Well brother, your health isn’t the greatest is it? If it makes you feel better, most of it pretty painful. And boring.”

Astre didn’t respond, instead looking back down to his sheets. Though he didn’t admit it, jealously swirled in him. Ciel was the healthy twin, the one who got to go to meetings with father and learn how to fence from mother. Meanwhile, Astre spent half his life in his bed with barely anything to do.

Noticing Astre’s discontent, Ciel stood up. A sneaky smile traced up his lips. “Say brother, I’ve got an idea. A way both of us can get what we want.”

-

_Ciel always loved playing tricks._

-

* * *

Two blades struck each other, a clang ringing through the air. Two competitors danced across the mat, exchanging blows and sidestepping attacks. A crowd had gathered around the duelists, watching them fight. After all, rumours of the Phantomhive family's skills with blades had traveled fast through the groups of fencers.

“Astre.”

Astre looked up. He stuck out among all the others, dressed in fine clothes while the others wore fencing uniforms. He sat on a small chair in front of the mat, kicking his legs back and forth. “Gray. Nice to see you again.”

Gray nodded. Beside him stood his best friend, Phipps.

“That’s your brother over there, isn’t it?” Phipps said. “Ciel, the one who’s supposed to be an excellent fencer?”

A teasing smile quirked onto Astre’s face and spoke sweetly. “Don’t be daft, Phipps. I’m not the prodigy.”

Grey laughed. “Hilarious, Astre. You-“

He paused, staring keenly at Astre’s face. Truthfully, the Phantomhive twins were identical- some called them mirror images. Even their parents had trouble telling them apart. They’d taken to dressing them in different colours and parting each son’s bangs in a different direction.

“Valid!”

The crowd clapped politely as the match concluded, Ciel having won. The two fighters stepped back, removing their helmets. ‘Ciel’ shook his head, brushing his sticky bangs away from his forehead. His small frame shuddered as he wheezed, trying to capture a deep breath.

‘Astre,’ gave them a wide grin, tilting his head. “My brother is the one who is truly brilliant.”

\- 

_But that all changed..._

-

* * *

“Astre~!”

Lizzy bounded into the room, a basket on her arm. The basket was jam-packed full of stuffed animals, ribbons, and the occasional flower.

“Oh, hello Lizzy,” Astre said, sitting up on his bed. “It’s nice to see you again. What brings you here?”

“Well, I’m always playing with Ciel outside, so I thought’d I see you!” Lizzy hummed. “I figured I’d bring the outside inside!”

Astre’s gaze fell on the flowers, and he scratched his neck. “Lizzy, you know how flowers in spring-“

“They’re fake!” Lizzy shouted, thrusting the basket at him. “You look so lonely, being inside all the time. I wanted to cheer you up!”

Astre gently took the basket from her, holding it in his arms. “Thanks, Lizzy. I appreciate it.”

Lizzy nodded excitedly. “I’m glad you like it!

She looked down at the ground. “I don’t see you much, but I like you too. You’re... different from Ciel.

Lizzy grinned widely at him. “I like that about you! Ciel’s more mischievous and rough, but you're sweet and gentle! I feel like I can always trust you to be good!”

Ciel looked down, guilt rolling in his stomach. “... Yes, of course.”

-

_Ciel's rough one. I'm the gentle one. Ciel would be the Earl of the Phantomhive estate. I'd have no land or title to my name. Lizzy's his fiancée, not mine. No matter how much I pretend, I'm not Ciel._

_-_

_“What? You don’t want to switch anymore?”_

_“I... I don’t think it’s good for me.”_

_“... Is this about Lizzy? Did she call you ‘sweet’ or something?”_

_“No! It’s not that! I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore...”_

_“Fine. I guess it was fun while it lasted.”_

-

* * *

Astre sipped a cup of tea, looking down at the book in front of him. He’d smuggled some of Father’s books on business out of his room with Ciel’s help, and Astre was intent on absorbing every drop of information from them. If he was going to need to carve out his own way of life, he needed to know what to do.

The door swung open without a knock, revealing a distraught Ciel. Ciel’s face was flushed red, tears rolling down his cheeks. Astre slammed his book shut, immediately worried. Ciel was never one to show weakness in front of others, and for him to be acting like this...

“Ciel, what happened!?” he said.

Tanaka approached the doorway, standing behind Ciel. His eyes were sorrowful, and he placed a comforting hand on the sobbing Ciel’s shoulder.

“I’m afraid there’s been an accident at the Midford Manor,” Tanaka said. “The Marchioness and Marquis are no longer with us. Elizabeth and Edward have gone missing.”

Astre’s teacup slipped from his fingers, shattering on the ground with a loud crack.

-

_I thought Lizzy was gone forever. Burned and broken like the Midford Manor. But then..._

-

* * *

Astre sniffled, standing in front of the set of four graves. His asthma was acting up again, but he’d gladly deal with it if he meant he could see Lizzy’s grave one more time. He pulled a stuffed animal from his coat, the one Lizzy had given him ages ago. Setting it at Lizzy’s grave, he stood there, clutching his coat closely to him, the sting of autumn catching up with him.

Leaves crunched behind him. Astre turned, his eyes widening upon seeing who it was.

Lizzy stood before him, a man in a crisp dark suit behind her. Lizzy’s golden blonde hair was cut short, her curls barely reaching her chin. Most worryingly, an eyepatch covered her right eye.

“Lizzy...!” Astre said.

He ran up to her, holding her gently, wondering if it was nothing more than another dream. But no. Lizzy’s frame was bony in his arms, far too thin underneath her frilly pink dress. Lizzy said nothing, her head slumped against his shoulder.

Astre looked up at the suited man with her. He gave Astre a sinister smile, and a kind wave.

-

_Lizzy returned to us, with a jet black butler by her side. But things had changed._

-

* * *

“Ciel, I’m perfectly fine, you don’t need to coddle me.”

Lizzy tugged her arm free, smoothing her sleeve of any wrinkles. Ciel lowered his hand, his expression tightening.

“Lizzy, I’m worried about you,” he said.

“I’m fine,” Lizzy said tersely. “And don’t call me Lizzy.”

“Fine, _Elizabeth_ ,” Ciel said. “You’ve been getting hurt a lot lately.”

“I’m the Queen’s Watch Dog. I need to aid her in her missions,” Lizzy said through grit teeth. “Sebastian keeps me safe, and I can handle myself perfectly well, thank you very much. I don’t need you or your swords.”

With that, she spun on her low heels, strutting out of the room. Sebastian turned them before he left.

“My apologies for Lady Elizabeth’s dour behavior,” he said. “She’s been under plenty of pressure lately. I will be sure address this later.”

Once the door shut, Astre turned to Ciel. “That went well.”

Ciel sat on one chair, rubbing his forehead. “Well, she’s been odd ever since the fire!”

“Ciel, both her parents and Edward died,” Astre said. “And she was missing for a month.”

“I know,” Ciel muttered. “I just feel useless like this, you know? I'm her fiancé. I'm supposed to protect her!”

Astre sat next to him. “Like she said, she has Sebastian to keep her safe. You're not useless Ciel, it's just that she doesn't need you right now. She still likes us.”

“She likes you far more than she likes me.” Ciel muttered. "At least she still lets you call her Lizzy."

“That’s because I’m nice,” Astre said, looking at the ground. “I’m the goody-two-shoes twin who can’t do anything for himself because he’s sick all the time.”

“... That bad?” Ciel said.

“You get to do things,” Astre said. “Everyone insists on coddling me all the time.”

Ciel was silent for a short while. Eventually, he got up, a familiar grin appearing on his face. “You know, there is a solution to both of our problems.”

“No.” Astre said, already knowing what he was planning.

“You’re a quick learner, it wouldn’t take much to catch up to me in terms of fencing,” Ciel mused, “We’d need to take some precautions against Tanaka, but that shouldn’t be much of an issue. Mother and Father _still_ have issues telling us apart, so we could likely dupe them.

He raised a hand, swiping his bangs to the opposite side. “Think about it. I could get some much-needed rest, and you could be of use for once.”

Astre sighed. “Fine.”

“Good!” Ciel said, dragging him up from his seat. “I’ve been looking forward to this for ages.”

“You do like your tricks.”

“I prefer to call them tests of intelligence.”

“Whatever you say.”

-

_And so, I made a decision. I’d return to training, to become strong again._

_It... was difficult. Even with practice, it’d be difficult to hide my asthma from others. There were far too many close calls._

-

* * *

He was at a ball when an attack hit.

Astre was in the middle of following after a blond boy in a delightfully nice suit, planning to ask where he got it when something crawled up his throat. Astre realized an attack was coming. His throat seized, and Astre’s attempts for air grew futile. He tried to stifle his chokes, pretending he had a tickle in his throat. It wasn’t working. He shot Ciel a frantic glance. Ciel nodded.

Ciel fell over, pretending to hack and wheeze. The effect was immediate. Attendants rushed towards him, drawing attention off of Astre. Pulling himself together the best he could, Astre staggered towards Ciel, gently pulling him up.

“I’ll get him some medical attention,” he said, his voice raspy. “Come on, dearest brother.”

Holding Ciel up, the two of them slipped out the doors of the ballroom. Ciel immediately straightened. Astre bent over, choking as he tried and failed to catch a stable breath. Ciel held one of his arms, supporting him as Astre almost hacked a lung up.

“Well, that was a close one,” Ciel said dryly. “At this rate, I’m going to destroy your reputation.”

“Can’t destroy what never had a chance to exist.”

“Touche.”

-

_People may think that I'm defenseless, a quaking wraith of a boy who looks like he would get knocked over by a stiff breeze. I'll let them think that, if that means I can learn how to protect others by pretending to be my brother._

-

* * *

Astre landed on ground, swords grasped firmly in both of his hands. Behind him, headless zombies splattered to the ground. His head shot up, seeing Grell at the end of the hallway. Falling into a sprint, he thrust his sword forward, aiming, striking-

A gloved hand caught the blade, jolting Astre to a stop. Sebastian smiled at him, gently lowering the sword.

“Thank you for your help, Astre, but I’ll no longer be needing it,” he said. “My deepest apologies for having you step in, especially with your preexisting health issues.”

“I’m fine,” Astre muttered.

“Astre.”

Astre’s heart fell into his stomach. He turned, dripping swords still in hand, to look at Lizzy. She’d staggered to her feet, holding onto the wall for support.

“Lizzy,” Astre said, shifting from foot to foot. “I’m sorry. There’s no time to talk about this now. We need to go.”

Lizzy frowned at him before sighing and shaking her head. “Sebastian, can you please carry me? I won’t be able to run on this leg.”

* * *

By the time they made it back to main deck, Ciel and the others were perfectly fine. Ciel looked to be taking great pleasure in cleaning the congealed blood off his silver rapiers, while both of their parents were helping others.

“Elizabeth,” Ciel said, “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Lizzy said. “I had some help.”

Ciel’s eyes drew to Astre’s blood-soaked clothes and swords, and he raised an eyebrow. “Ah. I see then. I hope this remains between the three of us.”

“That remains to be seen,” Lizzy said tersely.

“In the meantime, we should head to the lifeboats,” Ciel said. “As delightfully entertaining stabbing zombies is, I’m afraid we need to make our escape.”

Astre made his way towards the boat, but noticed that Lizzy wasn’t moving. “Lizzy?”

“Let this young man on in my stead,” Lizzy said, gesturing towards a man with a snake wrapped around his neck. “I’m afraid I have some unfinished business left on this ship.”

Ciel faltered for a moment, but composed himself. “... I see.”

“What! No!” Astre said, “Lizzy, it’s far too dangerous! Ciel and I are coming with y-“

A hand slammed into the back of Astre’s skull, causing everything to go dark.

* * *

“Master Astre? Marchioness Elizabeth is here to see you.”

“O-oh! Tell her she can some to my quarters.”

Astre got to his feet, smoothing out any wrinkles in his clothes. In the weeks following the events of Campania, Lizzy had thankfully remained silent about Astre’s performance before. That didn’t mean he didn’t have questions. After Sebastian had knocked him out, Lizzy had returned to the ship. Astre awoke to him and Ciel on a lifeboat with their parents, his swords gone and a blanket wrapped around his body.

Astre sneezed. Turned out, spending a couple hours in a flooding ship, then a couple more in a lifeboat in the middle of the sea wasn’t good for his immune system. He got the feeling that Mother and Father would not let him near a boat anytime soon.

The door to his room opened, and Lizzy entered. She was dressed in a navy blue dress, her shoulder-length curls tied up in two small pigtails, each secured with a matching ribbon. There was an air of cautiousness about her, as she if she didn’t know how to approach this.

“First things first,” Lizzy finally said. “How many times did I think I was talking to Ciel when it was really you?”

“Once,” Astre said. “Sebastian figured it out pretty much right away, so we stopped there.”

Lizzy muttered something that sounded like ‘that damned butler’ before continuing. “Do your parents know?”

“No,” Astre said. “Please don’t tell them. If they realize that Ciel and I have been doing this, we’ll be in deep trouble.”

“We’ll see,” Lizzy said. “Just answer this one question: What did Ciel do?”

“What do you?..”

Suddenly, everything clicked into place for Astre. “You think Ciel forced me into this.”

Lizzy shifted, avoiding his gaze. That was all the confirmation Astre needed.

“Ciel may have come up with the idea, but I agreed to it,” Astre said curtly. “He didn’t drag me into anything.”

“Why did you do it in the first place?” she said sharply. “Astre, you know too much physical exertion triggers your asthma.”

“That’s the point,” Astre said. “I know that my asthma is a danger to me, because every time I try to do something of use, everyone tells me to step down!

“I know I need to be careful when I do things, but all my life everyone has just referred to me as a spare!” Astre ranted. “The backup in case something happens to Ciel. The sickly one who can’t do anything for himself. It’s tiring, Lizzy. My room, this manor, everything is suffocating!

Astre looked away. “After that month you went missing... Lizzy, it made me realize I want to be a help to people, not a hindrance. Even if it is reckless, I don’t want to be dead weight.”

When Lizzy finally replied, her tone was sullen. “I don’t think of you as dead weight, or a hindrance. You’re strong. Arguably even better than Ciel with a sword. I just don’t want you to die in an act of carelessness, Astre.”

“I know,” Astre said. “And I won’t.”

Lizzy relaxed slightly. “Very well. I won’t tell your parents at this time.”

“Oh phew,” Astre muttered.

“However- “ Lizzy interjected. “If either you or Ciel ever try to pull something like this on me again, then we will have a problem on his hands.”

“Understood,” Astre said shakily.

Lizzy nodded. “Now that that is done and over with, I’m afraid I must take my leave. I have Watch Dog business. Farewell Astre.”

“Farewell Lizzy,” Astre said.

When Lizzy reached the doorway, she paused for a moment. “Astre... I care about you and Ciel deeply. Be careful in your endeavors. I’d hate for any harm to come to any of you.”

Astre nodded and watched silently as Lizzy left, gently shutting the door behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll admit, this entirely spawned from me thinking 'Lizzy, the Queen's Watch Dog' and 'Ciel... with swords...'.
> 
> I'm not entirely sure how the later parts of this would work out, but I guess Edward would take R!Ciel's role. We'd lose all the mystery and trippiness built up in the earlier chapters, but hey, we'd get Phantomhive twin shenanigans in return! Plus R!Ciel is surprisingly fun to write in this context.
> 
> Obviously, since O!Ciel didn't experience That Month here, he's a whole lot softer than he is in canon. On the other hand, Lizzy did experience it, so yeah, both turned out rather differently. Plus with Ciel tossed in here as Lizzy's fiancée, things get messy fast between the three of them.
> 
> Oh well. I had fun writing this. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Until next time!
> 
> \- Book Mage


End file.
